News and Media

February 4, 2013

Dear Valued Customer,

Source: FCBF Feb 02, 2013 7:55am

The International Longshoremen’s Association and United States Maritime Alliance reached tentative agreement on a six-year coast wide master contract late Friday night, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service said.

“The tentative agreement is subject to the ratification procedures of both parties and, as well, to agreements being achieved in a number of local union negotiations. Those local negotiations are ongoing and will continue without interruption to any port operation,” FMCS Director George H. Cohen said in a statement.

Cohen would not disclose details of the agreement, which averted the possibility of a Maine-to-Texas work stoppage. The current ILA-USMX contract had been set to expire at midnight Wednesday, It was originally due to expire Sept. 30 but was extended twice.

The contract agreement was announced at 11:10 p.m. Friday after four days of meetings in Newark, N.J., with federal mediators. The FMCS joined the negotiations in September after talks broke down on Aug 22.

The coast wide master contract covers all container ports on East and Gulf coasts.

Supplemental local agreements cover work rules and other port-specific issues.

Negotiations on the local contract between the ILA and the New York Shipping Association were held this week in parallel with the master contract bargaining. Work rules in the ILA-NYSA contract have been among the most contentious issues in the negotiations.

Cohen said the tentative agreement “reflects the culmination of good faith negotiations in which the parties successfully accommodated strongly held competing positions because of their commitment to problem solving. Again, collective bargaining has proven its worth by avoiding a potential work stoppage that would have had a severe negative impact on the nation’s economy.